If you have a vegetable garden, you probably grow sweet bell peppers. These peppers are also a good vegetable to grow among your flowers, even if you don’t have the space, time or interest for a vegetable garden. Because peppers produce so prolifically, you may have more peppers than you can use or give away.
Today’s recipe is one use of the peppers. Stuffed Peppers is a basic recipe for many households, but if you haven’t made these, this is a good recipe to use.
We have Lois Kirkland of The Baptist Church of Beaufort to thank for today’s recipe. The recipe is included in the church 200th anniversary cookbook published in 2004. The church’s pastor is Harry Rowland, and the church is in the Savannah River Association.
Mrs. Kirkland has been a member of the church for about 50 years or so. She and her late husband, Ernest J. Kirkland, were both natives of Waycross, Ga. He served in World War II and was stationed in Georgia, Texas, New York, California and Germany. When he retired, they moved to Beaufort because her parents lived there.
For many years, Mrs. Kirkland taught Sunday school for the 8-year-old class, sang with the Golden Voice choir, and was in WMU, but doesn’t do quite as much now.
The Kirklands have two sons: Jack and his wife Cathy, and Richard and his wife Jackie, all live in Beaufort.
Mrs. Kirkland isn’t sure where she got this stuffed pepper recipe, perhaps from an old cookbook. She cooked the peppers often in earlier years, but doesn’t cook as much these days.
When I tested this recipe, it was on a day when I didn’t have ground beef and didn’t have time to run to the store. I did, however, have a pack of sausage and used that instead. It made a good dish. Our daughter Lee says she frequently uses sausage instead of beef when making stuffed peppers. The recipe can be divided easily into halves or thirds for smaller families.
This is a good recipe, and we thank Mrs. Kirkland for sharing it first with the cookbook and now with us. The stuffed peppers can be prepared in the morning, refrigerated, then baked when you get home from church, just in time for … Sunday Dinner.
Stuffed Green Peppers
8 to 10 green peppers
1 cup uncooked regular rice
1 tablespoon shortening
1 pound ground beef
¼ cup chopped onion
¼ cup chopped green pepper
1½ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon black pepper, if desired
Cut stem ends from peppers and remove seeds. Put peppers into boiling water and cook for 2 or 3 minutes. Remove from water and drain.
Cook rice as directed on the package.
Melt shortening in heavy skillet; add ground beef, onion, chopped pepper, salt and black pepper. When ground beef is done, add mixture to the rice and stir.
Stuff the peppers with the mixture. Place in baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Do not cover or add water.
Serves 8 to 10 (one pepper per serving).